A systematic study of the gaseous emissions from biosolids composting: Raw sludge versus anaerobically digested sludge

Abstract

Volatile organic compound (VOC) and ammonia, that contribute to odor pollution, and methane and nitrous oxide, with an important greenhouse effect, are compounds present in gaseous emission from waste treatment installations, including composting plants. In this work, gaseous emissions from the composting of raw (RS) and anaerobically digested sludge (ADS) have been investigated and compared at pilot scale aiming to provide emission factors and to identify the different VOC families present. CH4 and N2O emissions were higher in ADS composting (0.73 and 0.55 kg Mg(-1) sludge, respectively) than in RS composting (0.01 kg Mg(-1) sludge for both CH4 and N2O). NH3 and VOCs emitted were higher during the RS composting process (19.37 and 0.21 kg Mg(-1) sludge, respectively) than in ADS composting (0.16 and 0.04 kg Mg(-1) sludge). Significant differences were found in the VOC compositions emitted in ADS and RS composting, being more diverse in RS than ADS composting.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Impact from Recycling the Organic Fraction of Solid Waste: Comparison of Different Treatment Schemes from a Life Cycle Perspective

“…Limited values of GWP emissions avoided due to natural gas substitution reported in this study were a consequence of the low value of net energy effectively delivered by the integrated scenarios. A high contribution from the direct emissions of biological process in GWP determination has previously been confirmed in the studies of Blengini [22] and Maulini-Duran et al [52]. Marginal benefits due to carbon sink restoration compared to the direct kgCO2 eq emitted from the biological process were also consistent with References [27,50].…”

“…Marginal benefits due to carbon sink restoration compared to the direct kgCO2 eq emitted from the biological process were also consistent with References [27,50]. Similarly, Kim and Kim [23] reported direct GWP emissions from the composting process, about 10 times higher than the emissions avoided due A high contribution from the direct emissions of biological process in GWP determination has previously been confirmed in the studies of Blengini [22] and Maulini-Duran et al [52]. Marginal benefits due to carbon sink restoration compared to the direct kgCO 2 eq emitted from the biological process were also consistent with References [27,50].…”

Influence of natural zeolite and nitrification inhibitor on organics degradation and nitrogen transformation during sludge composting

“…The evolution of organics degradation during sludge composting was mainly demonstrated through three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (EEM) analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that NH 3 emissions mainly happened at earlier stage of sludge composting (Szanto et al 2007;Maulini-Duran et al 2013); thus, NH 3 emissions were determined before entering into the maturation phase. The abundance of key functional nitrogen transformation genes involved in microbial nitrification (amoA, nxrA) and denitrification (narG, nirS, nirK, and nosZ) was determined using quantitative PCR (qPCR).…”

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions following anaerobic digestion of sludge in Japanese sewage treatment facilities

“…CH 4 produced by sludge is, moreover, combustible, hence giving rise to fire and explosion hazards (Astbury, 2008). Whereas CH 4 emissions from composting and wetlands have been reported before in some papers (e.g., Maulini-Duran et al, 2013;Uggetti et al, 2012), little information is available on the emission of CH 4 during the dewatering process after anaerobic digestion (IPCC, 2002). Additionally, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) has an even higher 100-year global warming potential of 265 (IPCC, 2013), and is released as a by-product of the nitrification and/or denitrification processes.…”